By Dr. Morris Samson, Kingston Road Animal Hospital, with Joanne Ingrassia
For Beach Metro – January 2002 issue

Every day in my practice, I hear countless, heartwarming stories about how important animals are in people’s lives, the love and affection they bring, the trust and devotion they show, and how much impact they have in our daily lives. Yet there still remain a small group of people in our community who do not regard animals as anything more than property to abuse, discard when unwanted, or to commit atrocious acts against.

Such was the recent case in Toronto of two young men who tortured and skinned a cat alive, filming their macabre killing for future viewing. Even worse, the judge in that case compounded this terrible act, in my opinion and the opinion of many of my clients who were horrified and upset by this case, when he handed down a very lenient sentence, not even using the full force of our rather lax laws. He even commented in his sentencing that the cat could have suffered even more - “it could have been worse.”

This “judgment” sent an especially dangerous message to not only other unbalanced and cruel individuals who may be committing these kinds of atrocious acts toward pets and other animals, but given the proven link between animal abuse and human abuse, could lead to violent acts against people if these kinds of actions are left unchecked.

There was another case of violence and inhumane torture in recent Beach history a few summers back when someone was going around the Beach neighbourhood, capturing cats and killing them, leaving the remains for children and others to come across in their daily walks around the area. The community was scared and horrified, and yet what punishment, if any, did the perpetrators get, given our insufficient laws against animal cruelty that makes such acts apparently deserving of not more than a slap on the wrist?

Perhaps the only positive note that has come from these horrendous and disturbing cases is that is seems to have struck a real strong nerve amongst many people concerned about our community and how we treat all living beings within it. The Beach is generally known for being “animal-friendly”, with many store owners putting out water dishes for the dozens of dogs who stroll our streets each day, and others even welcoming them inside. And when a treasured pet occasionally goes missing, posted signs on Queen Street telephone poles and store fronts often bring neighbours and strangers out on the lookout to help locate those lost pets.

But we need to do more. When violent acts, such as the ones I’ve described happen, we need to speak up and speak out against that violence. We need to contact our city officials, and provincial and federal politicians about our concerns and how unacceptable this is to us as a society. We need to write letters. It really can make a difference, drawing attention to issues needing to be resolved in our community, and can even help change laws like the one still waiting final approval by the Senate - Bill C15b - that would bring animal cruelty up to date in being considered a serious offense with appropriate punishment. And we need to speak with our friends, family, business colleagues and anyone else we can about our concerns for safe neighbourhoods for all living beings.